| Aarhus University | |
|---|---|
| Aarhus Universitet | |
Seal of Aarhus University |
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| Latin: Universitas Aarhusiensis | |
| Motto | Solidum petit in profundis (Latin) |
| Motto in English | Seek a firm footing in the depths |
| Established | 1928 |
| Type | Public university |
| Endowment | DKK 5,270,000,000 ($1.03B USD) (2009) |
| Rector | Lauritz Broder Holm-Nielsen |
| Admin. staff | 11,000 |
| Students | 32,304 (October 1, 2010)[1] |
| Undergraduates | 16,464 |
| Postgraduates | 15,620 |
| Location | Aarhus, Denmark |
| Affiliations | EUA |
| Website | www.au.dk/en |
Aarhus University (Danish: Aarhus Universitet) (abbr.: AU), located in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, is Denmark's second oldest and second largest university. The university was founded in 1928 and has over 32,000 students.
Aarhus University belongs to the international elite; in four prestigious ranking lists of the world's best universities, Aarhus University is placed in the top 100. AU is also listed at number 2 out of universities in Scandinavian and Nordic countries.
Denmark's first professor of sociology was a member of the faculty of Aarhus University (Theodor Geiger, from 1938–1952),[2] and in 1997 Professor Jens Christian Skou received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of the sodium-potassium pump.[3] In 2010 Dale T. Mortensen, a Niels Bohr Visiting Professor at Aarhus University, received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences together with his colleagues Peter Diamond and Christopher Pissarides.[4]
Aarhus University was founded on September 11, 1928 as Universitetsundervisningen i Jylland ('University Teaching in Jutland') with an enrollment of 64 students. Classrooms were rented from the Technical College and the teaching corps consisted of one professor of philosophy and four associate professors of Danish, English, German, and French. Until then the University of Copenhagen was the only university in Denmark.[5]
The use of the name Aarhus Universitet began in 1933, and the first actual building of the university was opened on September 11, 1933. In 1934 the Department of Humanities got state accreditation, state funding, and the right to conduct examinations. Until that time students had to go to Copenhagen to complete their studies.
The construction of Aarhus University’s first building and the furnishing of its scientific laboratories were funded solely by private contributors. Some gave cash, others goods and labor. For example Forenede Teglværker ('United Tileworks') gave one million yellow bricks, while others provided favourable prices of craftsmanship or offered free services, such as window cleaning. A single wealthy donor contributed more than a tenth of the total expenses, and the municipality provided the building site and its surroundings. The building originally held the Departments of Physics, Chemistry, and Anatomy. All in all the building was primarily designed for the purposes of the medical faculty, having only a few rooms for the other subjects. This caused some dissatisfaction among the humanities faculty, many of whom had been there since the start. When the University's first building was inaugurated by King Christian X on September 11, 1933, the, the university had 202 students – 90 in humanities, 45 in medical science, 21 in theology, and 46 who had not chosen a major. In 1936 a Department of Economics and Law was founded, in 1942 the Department of Theology, and in 1954 the Department of Science.
In 1936 the university board had acknowledged that with nearly 500 students and an expected continuous rise in the numbers, it was time to consider an expansion. As the chairman of the university said: “There are people who expect that this university will have 3,000 enrolled students at some point in the future. I almost said that I don't hope for that to happen – but if it should, we will need a special administrations building.” The solution was not an administration building, as this was not to be built until 1964. Instead a new main building was planned, containing both the different subject areas as well as the administration. As something all new in Denmark, this building was to be organized according to 'the principle of institutes', meaning that teaching and research were to take place in certain rooms with their own library and study for the professor.
The construction of the building took place during the German occupation of Denmark (1940–45), which affected the process in more than one way. No state funds had been involved in the construction of the first university building and a second building for physiology, biochemistry, and a high voltage laboratory, but because of circumstances during the occupation necessitating an extra effort towards creating employment, the state contributed more than eighty percent of the total expenses. In 1943 the Gestapo set up its regional headquarters in the five student halls of residence on campus. Fearing that the same would happen to the new main building, its completion was delayed. On October 31, 1944, the Royal Air Force bombed the Gestapo's headquarters, also killing ten civilian workers. The air strike on the University of Aarhus took place in a heavily populated area and the campus was surrounded by three hospitals. To avoid civilian casualties, the RAF prepared with several months of intense training on a model of the campus. The architect C. F. Møller was present in the main building during the air strike but survived and was later dug free from the rubble.
The reconstructed main building opened on September 11, 1946, housing not only humanities, theology, economics and law, and the university administration, but also the main hall, lobby, cantina, and rooms for student organisations and clubs.
The university is governed by the University Board which has 11 members: six members recruited outside the university form the majority of the board, two members are appointed by the academic staff, one member is appointed by the technical/administrative staff, and two members are appointed by the university students.[6] The rector is appointed by the university board. The rector in turn appoints deans and deans appoint heads of departments. There is no faculty senate and faculty is not involved in the appointment of rector, deans, or department heads. Hence the university has no faculty governance.
Since January 1, 2011, the university has been organised into four major main academic areas:[7]
As of October 1, 2010, more than 32,000 students were enrolled in Aarhus University.[1] Each year more than 1000 international exchange students come to Aarhus University to study for one or two terms. In 2009 close to 3000 international students were enrolled in full degree programmes.[8] Aarhus University is an international university with a large proportion of students at the post-baccalaureate level: over half of its students are enrolled in Master's degree and PhD programmes. In 2011, 59 of the university's 113 Master's degree programmes were taught in English.[9] Talent development of young researchers has been identified as one of the university’s core activities.[10] This means that highly qualified students have the option of starting their PhD studies before completing their Master's degree. The university's flexible doctoral programmes allow talented students to enroll in a combined Master's/PhD programme either right after completing the Bachelor's degree (the 3+5 track) or one year into their Master's degree programme (the 4+4 track).[11] Since 2006 the number of PhD students has risen from approximately 1000 to approximately 1700 in 2010.[12]
The compact campus in Aarhus provides a unique and dynamic study environment which also influences the social environment. Students from different fields meet in the numerous Friday bars, in the Student House Aarhus and at concerts in the University Park and around the rest of the city. The Friday bars are a good opportunity for students to meet up and enjoy a drink together. Every Friday around noon, each department sets up a small bar in a canteen or classroom where beers and non-alcoholic drinks are served. The university also has a number of libraries, some of which are open around the clock. Almost every department has its own library, but the main library is the State and University Library. It has an extensive electronic journal database which students and staff can access either at the library or from home.[13] Aarhus University Sports (AUS) is open to all university students and organises a wide range of activities from badminton, to fencing and chess.
The largest student organisations at Aarhus University are the Student Union (Studenterrådet) and Studenterlauget. The Student Union represents the main student body at Aarhus University while Studenterlauget represents the students at Aarhus School of Business. Both the Student Union and Studenterlauget are represented on the university board.[14] The Student Union also arranges annual concerts and seminars, and publishes the student magazine Delfinen (The Dolphin).
There are political students organisations at the university, the largest of which include the Social-Democratic Students (Frit Forum), Conservative Students (Konservative Studenter), and Liberal Students (Liberale Studerende). The Conservative Students union publishes the student magazine Critique. The Liberal Students union publishes the leaflet Minerva.
The main campus is centrally located in Aarhus. This location is a special feature of the university, because the short distances between different faculties and schools give students the feeling of being a student at an entire university, and not just at their own faculty or department.[15]
The campus master plan competition was won in 1931 by the collaborative scheme of Danish architects – Kay Fisker, C.F. Møller, and Poul Stegmann in collaboration with landscape architect C.Th. Sørensen. The design includes a wide variety of buildings over a large space, but each building is composed of the same yellow brick and roofing tile, giving the whole campus a unified look. Construction commenced in 1932 and has continued into the 21st century. The original main building was one of the first Danish functionalist public buildings and has been included in the Ministry of Culture's canon of Danish architecture; it is acknowledged as one of the twelve most meaningful architectural works in the cultural history of Denmark. C.F. Møller and his company have continued as architects of the campus ever since.[16] The main buildings of the university are placed in and around a beautiful hilly landscape, The University Park, which has been expanded throughout the years. In a harmonic interplay with the hilly park, the yellow buildings form a beautiful campus, which has received international recognitions.
Aarhus University also has a small campus in Copenhagen, where the university's programmes in education and pedagogic are taught.[17] In the city of Herning there is also a small campus where a few of the university's business, engineering and technology programmes are taught, the AU-IBT division.[18]
Aarhus University is home to 15 Centres of Excellence supported by the Danish National Research Foundation[19] and a considerable number of major research centres. These centres are widely acknowledged for their pioneering work within basic research. The 15 Centres of Excellence are:[20]
Some of the university's other major research centres include MindLab and iNANO.
MINDLAB was established with a DKK 120 million grant awarded by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. At MINDLab neuroscientists, psychologists, biologists, statisticians and researchers from other fields work together to understand the brain, its disorders, and its development through physical and social interactions – and vice versa. By placing different fields of inquiry under the same roof, creating structured information systems, making expensive equipment available and in other ways facilitating multidisciplinary knowledgesharing, MINDLab has started producing unique research results.
The Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (founded in 2002 by Professor Flemming Besenbacher) offers a degree programme in nanoscience with an interdisciplinary curriculum covering a broad spectrum of introductory, advanced, and specialised courses, aimed at providing the student with a sufficiently broad basis to conduct interdisciplinary research within nanoscience and at the same time achieve disciplinary depth and specialised skills in selected areas. Hence, the programme encompasses physics, chemistry, biology, molecular biology, mathematics, and computer science.
In recent years, Aarhus University has been moving up in the most important international rankings. Among over 17,000 universities world-wide, Aarhus University is ranked in the top 100 by several influential rankings.
| 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Ranking | 79 | 84 | 63 | 81 | 114 |
| Ranking in Scandinavia | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Ranking in Europe | 20 | 34 | 20 | 29 | 31 |
Visit the website for further information: www.topuniversities.com
| 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Ranking* | 95/55 | - | 105 | - |
| Ranking in Scandinavia* | 3/2 | - | 3 | - |
| Ranking in Europe* | 33/13 | - | 24 | - |
*: The 2010 rankings indicate the university's rank among the world's 250 largest universities and among the world's 100 largest universities respectively. Size is determined on the basis of the number of publications.
Visit the website for further information: http://socialsciences.leiden.edu/psychology/students/news/leiden-ranking-2010-cwts.html
| 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Ranking | 86 | 98 | 97 | 93 | 102 |
| Ranking in Scandinavia | - | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Ranking in Europe | - | 32 | 31 | 31 | 40 |
Visit the website for further information: www.arwu.org
The International Centre maintains international partnerships and combines a wide range of services for exchange students, international full-degree students, PhD’s and visiting scholars. The International Centre is often the first stop for foreign students at Aarhus University, since the centre offers advice on finding housing and living in Denmark. In general students are very satisfied with the services offered by international centre.[21]
Starting in 2011 all summer courses offered by Aarhus University for Bachelor's, Master's and PhD students will be gathered together and expanded to provide more diversity in a new framework: AU Summer University. In the summer of 2011 more than 80 courses are being offered within the fields of humanities, theology, social sciences, health sciences, natural sciences, agricultural sciences, business and educational sciences. The courses are open to both Danish and international students.[22]
Aarhus University offers both undergraduate and graduate programmes in the following fields:
Aarhus University offers many activities and services for foreign and Danish students.
Dale’s Café is a meeting place for international students and the university’s PhD students that opened in 2011. The café offers quality coffee, sandwiches and a wide selection of beers. It has an informal lounge area where students and young researchers can relax while enjoying snacks and beverages. Like the main building, Dale’s Café is named after Aarhus University’s 2010 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, Dale T. Mortensen. The Dale T. Mortensen Building houses the International Centre, the new PhD House and the IC Dormitory, which contains 28 dorm rooms and two apartments dedicated to recently-arrived international PhD students.[23][24]
Aarhus University offers a free membership in Aarhus Student House to all exchange students. This is the meeting place for international and Danish students in Aarhus. Aarhus Student House organises social and cultural activities throughout the year, ranging from parties to road trips, to language classes, to weekly international nights (a popular dinner club).[25][26]
Like many other university towns, Aarhus has a bustling nightlife. From Irish pubs to jazz cafés, you can probably find a café or bar to fit your taste. Down by the canal, in the pedestrian zone, there are a number of bars and cafés, or you might choose to visit one of the ’Friday bars’ organized by students at the university. You may also want to check out the Aarhus Culture Guide for concert listings as bars often serve as musical venues. In addition the city of Aarhus also offers a variety of cultural experiences. For a complete listing of the activities and events, visit: www.visitaarhus.dk
AUS is the official sports club of Aarhus University, and is open to all university students. It is an umbrella organisation consisting of 14 independent member clubs, which host a wide range of activities, from badminton to fencing to chess. In addition, AUS also offers independent activities such as indoor soccer tournaments, a well equipped gym and skiing trips.[27]
Aarhus University is the owner of the chemical manufacturer Cheminova, who controversially has been selling the methyl parathion pesticide to Brazil farmers.[28]
In 2009, senior researcher Mette Jensen emailed her colleagues at AU, asking whether they thought Cheminova should stop selling the controversial pesticides. For this, the university threatened her with dismissal.[29]
The university's Pro-Vice-Chancellor Søren E. Frandsen denies that the university had made any mistakes or threatened the freedom of speech and academic freedom of its staff.[30]
The residence halls in the University Park are located on campus; the other residence halls are spread all over the city.
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